STILL REBUILDING: Mapleton Two Years Later

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STILL REBUILDING: Mapleton Two Years Later

Tuesday marked two years since an EF 3 tornado tore through the town of Mapleton in northwest Iowa.

None of the city’s 1,200 residents were seriously hurt, but the 165 mile per hour winds took a toll on 46 homes and 21 businesses.

City planners say they want to rebuild the town better than it was before, but it will take them more than a decade to complete all the repairs.

“When you move into recovery, it requires a lot of planning. Just because you lost a tree, for instance, doesn’t mean you should plant the tree in that same place,” Rebuilding Committee Director Marie Whiteing said.

Some business owners aren’t waiting for the city. Bert Schauer owns a gas station in town. He says before the storm he was going to renovate it, but after the twister trashed it he just ended up building a new one. “We invested quite a bit more money, but we’ve got a lot nicer facility then what we would have had,” he explains.

The city is still conducting several studies on housing, green space and transportation.